Sectional sanitary pipe cleaner



Aug. 16, 1932. s. F. KING SECTIONAL SANITARY PIPE CLEANER Filed Oct. 1l, 1929 i NM1.

3.5.. end adjacent the motor.

Patented Aug. 16, 1932V 'ei'eeiien coiiieiw, Y icm:

seeiiemii seiiiieesz rire 'eigeiiieii 'This invention :relates to l a elefner vfor Cleaning seotiol'ls fof" sanitary Vpipe 'a dairy, tand 'has for 'an-object to 2piwlidefa'djevie 'of this :character Wl'iie'his easily jpoi'ialoie so' that it maybe easily moved about 'the i ci-airy from piace toiplace to loafte it 'iiiihe most desirable pcisit'ioijioV use.-

It is another object of tlie inVention'to-provide suoli Va cleaner-for feleaiiig these pl-pe sections which isriyen'byfpower-so that-tie' 'cieahiiig lila-y Ibe do'ne" Iliitich *more '-qli-ekiy and'with lesslabor'n the ofthe-operafor than ithe 01d hand methoeis. f

:It is anoeheiiobjeet 'ofthe invention te? pir-'e fi vide la cleaner, 'a power diiiiei-i brush g'ethe'r with iniians 'for supplying iyater to the brush during the cleaning'operation.A

.2Q viewithe inventien eonsistswith*eerteinirrovel features frei xeenrstiiietimi, i'e@iii-loir'iattirons,A arrangement 'of petits as will 5iie "liner-e fiiiily disclosed conn'eetien wjfitiifthe faeeompeny ing firming., itl beingk I`oi @divise iiiideisieedf Fig. i is e: side elevati@ '0i myiiiipreveii f .30. oleaner-inzconl'ition for-use;

if4 endl-thereof es maieeiedlvby the linee@ ei The construction shown oorii'piisesl "ai ndotonv 10 ofjay suitable typeppreierably an electric-motor Iri'oilnted onva ksuitable supportl l1, Whioh inV turniisfmounted on.-suita1 o1e` Y 50. Wheels or casters 12, sotha't itmayfbeeasily CTI ' cated in the full lines of Fig.k l.

flexible shaft to elongate or contract as it twists looser or tighter under variations in the driving torque andv prevents the shaft buckling up and breaking. u

Connected to the section is a sleeve 40, which is connectedk by a flexible covering sleeve 41 with a coupling 42 connected to the inner end of the pipe 18, and this flexible section is also covered witha rubber or fibre covering r43.` AjflexibleV tube 44 also vsurrounds the flexible shaft 24 within this flexible section and extends from 4thecoupling 42 to the shaft section 29 so that the section of the ent-ire assembling between the sleeve and the coupling 42 is flexible Vto permit the re-` mainder of the shaftassembly to move about as indicated in dotted lines of Fig. 1, while the remainder of this shaft assembly'between the coupling 42 andthe brushV isrigid and normally rests on the support 16 as indi- The sleeve 40 may be provided ywith an opening closed bya plug 45 for the entrance of oil to the space v46 and which may pass through the opening 47 Vto the flexible shaft 24 and fill the tubes 44 and 21 so that this flexible into the Acoupling-42.

shaftruns in oil., The space between the flexible shell 41 `and flexible tube 44 is closed by -a stop 48 to prevent passing of this oil The interior of this coupling communicates with the passage 20 between the tube 21 and the shell or pipe 18 and/forms a means for supplying water to this passage which is discharged through the open end 49 tothe brush and into the tube being cleaned. For this-purpose a pipe 50 is connected to the coupling 42 and is provided with coupling means 51 for attachment of hose 52 leading from any suitable source of supply. f

In use the sanitarytubes are removed from the dairy apparatus, such for example as the milk-cooler, and is passed over the brush 23 while the brushis rotating,` the operator taking the tubes one at a time.y passing one end over the brush and then lifting the rigid portion kof the shaft assembly from the support 16 andpassing the tube down over the brush as indicated in dottedlines Fig. 1, the tube' being cleaned being indicated by the` reference numeral 53. It is of course'understood that Vthe rigid portion of the shaftassembly is of suliicient length to clean theentire length of the longest tubes to operate upon, or for extremely long tubes one-half may be cleaned from one end `and the other half rfrom the other end. The water may or may not be supplied through the pipe 20 but ifwater is supplied-*it greatly facilitates the'cleaning operation and keeps thebrush clean.

As the tubes are forced on'and off the brush, it is of course desirable thatthe stand 11 does not shift during-this operation. I have therefore, provided auxiliary means for supporti ing this stand independently of the` rollers or Y of the operator.

ywheels 12during the cleaning operation. For

this purpose I mount on the under side of the stand a shaft 54 carrying eccentrics or cams 55 and connect to the shaft a lever 56 which is normally held in the elevated position to lift l' the cams from engagement-with the floor by the spring 57, so that the stand is on the wheels 12 and may be easily shifted. When the device is in position for cleaning tubes V58 ywhich is" inclined at its upper surface as shown at 59 so that it is automaticallyretracted asthe lever is depressed, and is moved into position over the lever by the spring 60.

When the operator again wishes to shift the device hemerely retracts the catch 58 permitting the spring 57 to raisethe lever and allow the deviceto again rest upon the rollersl2., -1

Y The supporting 4bar 15 is braced and supported by braces 61 connected tothe .baseV of the motor support 11 andvconnected t0 the bar. 15 at 62. An upright support 6 3 is also, pivoted to the b ar and braces at this point,V 'and may be swung up out `,of the way when not'in use. This maybe an angle bar pivoted by one flange to the -pivot62, and the otherflange acting asa stop to limit outward movement` of thebar. n l'Ihedevice makes a very effectivecleaning device for-the sanitary pipe section-used in a dairy.V The sanitary requirements require that these pipes all becarefully cleaned every day, and asthere are a large number ofthese sections used in vmodern dairies it will be obvious that cleaning-byv the old hand-methods requires a large amount of time yand labor,

however, the workmen are merely'required 1 to pass the pipe sections onto Yand offj the brush, so that the kbrush passes entirely through the'pipe, and the Ipipe is very thoroughly cleaned with little effort-on the part Having thus set forth .the nature vention, what I 'claim is 1. In a portable pipe cleaner, a motor, a flexible shaft connected to the motor, an elongated rigid tubular casing,v a brush at the free end of said casing, a shaft in the casingxfor driving the brush and connected to the flexible shaft, a short flexible casing enclosing a por- Oi my in;

like connection between the rigid casing and the motor, and said rigid casing movable on the short flexible section as a hinge toposi-v tion the long rigid sectionof the casing for the passage of a tube thereover. i l' f V,2. Ina pipeY cleaner,vv aV motor, a rotary ros ' tion ofthe flexible shaft and forming a hingeiso brush, a exible driving shaft operatively Connected to the motor and the brush, a tubular casing enclosing said shaft including a rigirf'l. portion leading from adjacent the brush and a flexible portion between the rigid por-l tion and the motor, a tubular casingv enclosing the first casing and spaced therefrom to form a passage open at its outer end adjacent the brush, and means for supplying liquid to said 7.3 passage.

3. In a pipe cleaner, a motor, a mounting therefor, a rotary brush, a flexible driving shaft, and an enclosure therefor between the motor and the brush having an elongatedrigid JJ portion from the brush inwardly and a relatively short exible portion between the rigid portion and the motor and forming a hingelile joint, and a laterally extending support from the motor mounting for the said rigid 20 portion, said support including a part from which the rigid portion of the casing is vertically movable on flexing of the flexible portion of the casing whereby to permit a tube Y being passed over the brush from one of its ends.

In testimony whereof I airix my signature.

SERENO F. KING. 

